Smoke Screen
by CluelesslyInvolved
Summary: While Tony, Gibbs, and McGee work on what seems like a normal case, little do they know that their being watched. Even worse, Ziva needs their help to save the team from disaster. Includes new probie! Reviews helpful! Small bit Tony/Ziva
1. Chapter 1

**I thought I would try an NCIS story- I may stop writing once the real season starts! Unless someone wants me to continue... I don't want to clash with the real season once it starts, but this is supposed be happening after the last episode up to date! Thanks!**

Tony pointed his gun at a shadow at the wall. He heard a call of 'Clear!' coming from somewhere in the distance. His heart rapidly raising his blood pressure, he yelled out to whoever was lurking in the corner.

"Come out or I'll shoot!" his voice echoed around the empty space.

Whoever was there got the message, and stepped out from the concealing shadows.

"It's just me," the woman said plainly.

Tony sighed, seeing who it was, and put safety back on his weapon. But then he remembered. He saw Kate walking towards him as he stared in disbelief. Tony stood paralyzed, his body flooded with an un-earthly cold.

"But…" he protested. "Your dead."

Kate's shoulder length hair waved in the breeze as a bloody red bullet hole began to solidify on her forehead. She opened her mouth and spoke; the voice Tony had head so often before it was instantly recognizable.

"I know."

Tony awoke violently, and if he were any less a man that he was he would have screamed. His body was covered in a cold sweat, but he felt his hair standing on end. He sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. He blinked a few times, and then closed his eyes, helping himself to calm down.

Kate was dead. He knew that, yes, but even after all this time it hadn't faded how gruesome it was to see his friend die right in front of his eyes. Although it might have seemed to others around them that they didn't like each other, or that love was what kept them together, it wasn't true. They were only friends, but to see her die still haunted his nights. She was dead. Nothing could change it.

He opened his eyes slowly and felt calm again. He laid down on his old and dusty mattress, having no money left to buy a new one after spending it all on a new car. It was stupid, in some people's minds, to spend all your money on a car. Tony knew they were wrong, though, because cars are not just transportation. No, they were a reflection of your very soul.

He felt himself drifting his thoughts away from Kate, to work and other happier things. For example, hot girls. Through these subjects, a consent thought kept popping up. Ziva.

It was stupid, he knew, to even think about her. But those undercover missions and the strange cases where they ended up together, like the time they got locked in a shipping crate where a group of terrorists were storing millions of dollars worth in counterfeit money. Of course, she was gone now, but he could never quite get her black hair and tan skin out of his mind in times like these. Then as he started to drift his mind to the more, well, explicit things about Ziva, Gibbs paid his thoughts a surprise visit.

Whenever he began to think romantically about Ziva, he found that Gibbs popped into his mind. He could imagine Gibb's annoyance if he ever found out, well, what Tony thought about at night. He could already feel the slap to the head he would have been given. Gibbs never failed to ruin moments like these. Rule number twelve- never date a coworker. Of course, she wasn't really he coworker now. The Mossad took her away from NCIS, but if she knew the truth… would it even had mattered?

Tony sighed and rolled onto his side. Ziva was complicated, and he would never figure her out. Why even try? He needed to get some sleep, he knew that, but thinking about it just made it worse. Who knew what work could bring tomorrow? On the other hand, he didn't really want to think about it.

After spending about thirty minutes staring at his shadow-engulfed ceiling, Tony finally fell asleep. Not that it was a deep sleep, not by a long shot. He tossed and turned, but no more dreams tormented his sleeping mind. But after all he'd been through; sleeping was the least of his problems.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ziva squatted down behind a wooden crate, pulling an illegal gun out of her coat pocket. The crate she hid behind wouldn't provide much protection in a firefight, she knew that, but it was her only option. She gulped down breaths of air, her body starved of oxygen. It felt like she had been running for years- but tired and in pain was better then dead.

She was silent, waiting to see if they would search the buildings. If it was her, she would have the building searched. It's not like she had anywhere else to run. In the last month she had been captured, escaped, and then betrayed by Mossad. In other words, it hadn't been her best time in Iraq.

A group of footsteps echoed in the storage building. The boxes were stacked high to the ceiling and provided enough hiding places for more then her one person. It was a maze for anyone who had never been there before, but she had been to the building many times beforehand.

The footsteps got louder, a sign that they were coming. Ziva held her gun tight in her right hand, ready to shoot. She heard them start to speak, their voices echoing in the concrete and metal box.

"Split up," a man ordered in Ziva's native language. She felt puzzled, for the voice seemed familiar to her. It was likely she knew the man; he was probably working for Mossad.

His order was obeyed, and the other two people with the man walked into different directions. They walked into directions that they wouldn't discover her hiding spot. It was just her and their leader.

It seemed he already knew where she was hiding. He walked straight to her spot in a way he couldn't be wandering blind. She took a long breath, simultaneously aiming her gun on the mans chest. She knew she should give his chest a solid three rounds, but she needed to know who the man was. All of her assassin instincts went against this- but her time at NCIS taught her to keep those instincts at bay. As she had once said, she was now an investigator, not just a killer.

"Ziva," the man said, his face finally in view. Ziva almost gasped- but she didn't let it show on her face. "Nice to see you," the man said. "Too bad you won't live to tell anyone about it."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"TONY!" McGee's voice rang violently through the bullpen. "NOT AGAIN!"

Tony snickered to himself, but knowing he would be punished in a few seconds put a damper on his mood. It had been done many times before- but super gluing McGee's fingers to his keyboard always cheered him up. Then again, sometimes he did it just too release some steam. Since Ziva had gone, none of the team was really the same.

Tony felt Gibb's hand connect sharply with the back of his head. He grimaced, rubbing he neck after Gibbs walked away.

"Tony!" Gibbs said sharply. "This again?"

Gibbs acted like he didn't know, but he was aware that this was Tony's way of trying to get past Ziva leaving. They were close, and Tony felt that her leaving was his entire fault. Which it was, but Tony was just trying to protect her. If only she knew Tony the way he did… maybe she would still be here. Gibbs walked to his desk, grabbing his gun from the drawer and loading it.

"Suit up!" he informed his agents. "Dead marine!"

Tony grabbed his gun and shoved his NCIS hat on his head as McGee glared at him.

"Tony," McGee said exasperated. "This is going to take forever to get my hands off of!" Tony grinned to himself at McGee's annoyed tone.

"Go get Abby to help you!" Tony yelled back to McGee. "I got to drive the Probie!"

The elevator doors opened with a ding, and Gibbs stepped inside.

"You coming, Tony?" Gibbs asked. "Or are you going to stay here and play doctor with Elf King?"

"Coming right away, Boss," Tony yelled, running to the elevator and stepping in. "Bye, McGee!" he then said mockingly as the silver doors closed, waving until he was out of sight.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, and smacked Tony on the back of the head for the second time in the last three minutes. It was going to be a long day- and they hadn't even picked up the Probie yet.

"Where's the Probie?" Tony asked as the elevator dropped to the second floor.

"He's down by the van," Gibbs told him unhappily, "I haven't met him yet."

"Sounds like a load of fun," Tony said more to himself than to Gibbs. They stood in silence for a few seconds, then stepped out of the elevator as it's doors opened with a ding.

Ducky was waiting for them as they stepped out of the elevator, his white hair and scrubs making him instantly recognizable. Gibbs walked to him, glancing around to spot the new member of his team.

"Have you seen Mr. Palmer?" Duck asked Gibbs in an annoyed tone. "He has seemed to have disappeared."

The sound of someone tripping over the concrete floor graced the air, and Ducky didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

"Decided to join us, Mr. Palmer?" Ducky asked to the man standing behind him.

"Yes, Dr. Mallard," Jimmy said quickly, trying to make up for his absence. "I'm sorry, I was just talking to Adien, and-"

"Adien, Mr. Palmer?" Ducky questioned.

"Oh," Jimmy realized his mistake. "The new guy."

Tony grinned in an almost pained way. Slapping Jimmy on the back, Tony took a breath to prepare him. He'd met a few Probies over the years, but none of them had really left him wishing for more Probie encounters.

"Making friends already, Jimmy?" He mocked. So where is," Tony paused. "Adien?"

Jimmy shrugged his shoulders before telling Tony what he knew.

"He said he was going to be here," he paused, looking at man coming in through the doors on the other side of the room. "Soon," he finished.

Tony followed Jimmy's stare, and couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was strange to seem anyone like this in law enforcement, but then again, he'd seen worse.

**Thanks for reading!!! You're the best!!! Review if you want more, please! Thanks again!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Another update for you! Just to let you know, thanks to everyone who reviewed but really… the lack of reviews was a bit… underwhelming. Review if you want more- thanks!**

"Ahmed," Ziva said out loud to herself. "Be reasonable."

She knew this tactic wouldn't work, but she needed to buy herself more time. She was really mentally scanning her options of escape, but to Ahmed and his men, she was trying to buy her life.

"Ziva," Ahmed replied. "Darling, you wouldn't be pleading." He smiled, apparently enjoying the thought. "You've gone soft."

Ziva decided to go with this role, the Mossad killer gone soft approach.

"Please," she made her eyes go big, and her voice wispy sweet. "I'll give you anything."

Ahmed seemed to consider it for a few moments, and then changed his mind.

"You already had that chance years ago. You knew what I wanted, but you wouldn't bend on the subject," he sighed, leaning towards Ziva and reached his fingers out, brushing the hair from her face. "So now you're just a loose end. I regret it, but it was your own choice."

Ziva could see that they were getting onto shaking ground, so she decided to change the subject.

"You're supposed to be dead." Ziva had been meeting quite a few dead people lately it seemed. Ahmed was another one to the list.

"I know. I took on a dangerous mission, but I discovered the truth."

"What truth?" Ziva had to make him take his time. She was backed into a corner. She needed a way to move around him; right now she was too close for comfort. The Mossad Assassin slowly stood up, leaning onto the boxes she was hiding behind. The only good thing about working missions in the past with a now present enemy, you knew his weak spots. "What mission?"

"You know quite well!" Ahmed said angrily. "It was your fault!"

"My fault?"

"It was you and your brother," he vented. "He was taking on the mission to kill an important American assassin who was here to kill your father."

Ziva knew this story well. She was never told that Ahmed took on the mission afterward, but she knew it ended messily.

"Familiar?" he yelled. " I thought so!"

He lifted he gun, and pointed it back at Ziva's head.

"That was you?" Ziva said, faking shock. She skirted around him, hiding her gun. "I didn't know."

"You didn't know?" he said, not realizing she was moving around him. "You didn't know…" he scoffed at her words. "Don't lie to me!"

"Maybe you'll never know."

Ziva grabbed his gun, and punched him straight in the stomach- knocking the wind out of him. She didn't give him time to fight back, promptly hitting the pressure point on the back of his neck. She kneeled and pointed her gun to his head, but before she could pull the trigger a bullet promptly whizzed past her head.

"Stop right there!" one of Ahmed's men yelled. More bullets showered around Ziva, causing her to prevent herself from her stalker. She took a deep breath while she stood, and started to run. She moved past three rows of crates before the men realized she was running.

There were two more rows until she reached the entrance. Her breath was heavy and ragged, her footsteps hard on the concrete.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" one of Ahmed's men yelled at her, shooting a particularly close bullet to Ziva's head.

She was almost there. She reached the door, the grey metal dull in the light. She rapped her right hand around the doorknob trying to turn it. It stuck. She tried a second time, and then tried turning it the other way. The door was locked.

Ziva looked back, the men were gaining fast. She didn't have much time.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Adien walked over to their group, taking long, yet slouching strides. He had pale skin, black hair, and was dressed in the NCIS hat, jacket, and pants. Even with the job outfit- you could tell he wasn't a normal agent. There was the hint of a tattoo poking out of his neckline, and his nose boasted a small, black stud.

"That's Adien?" McGee managed to say.

Adien arrived at their group uncertainly, his back stud catching the light.

"Agent Gibbs?" he questioned the group.

"Yes?" Gibbs replied, annoyed.

"I'm the new addition to your team."

Gibbs didn't speak, waiting for Adien to say something important.

"Adien Harlem," he said after the silence. "You were expecting me?"

Gibbs turned around and began to walk away towards his car. He was totally ignoring the Probie, which was his normal way of greeting the Probies.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs called over his shoulder. "Get Probie to the crime scene!"

"Right away, Boss!" Tony called back. He turned to Adien, his face still echoed of his thoughts of Adien's looks. "Let's go."

Tony walked over to his car, opening the door and sitting down into the driver's seat. Adien opened the other door, sitting down next to Tony. Not one to sit in silence, Adien had many questions for Tony as he drove to the crime scene.

"So is Gibbs always like this?" Adien's voice wasn't too low or too high, more in the middle. He breathed loudly, in a very annoying way.

Tony answered in silence.

"Who are you?"

Tony, again, ignored the question. He looked over to Adien, glaring at him to stop breathing so loudly.

"You at NCIS don't talk much, do you?"

Tony rolled his eyes.

"No," Tony finally responded. "We're all mute."

This sarcasm shut Adien up for the rest of the ride. After ten more minutes of quiet, Adien had decided to breath more quietly, they arrived at their destination. Tony gazed through the window, looking out at the area surrounded in yellow tape.

It was a neighborhood, full of green grass and small garden gnomes sitting inside of small front- yard gardens. For sale signs littered the front of almost every lawn, and standing behind the yellow crime scene tape was a tall, skinny woman in a pale pink suit with matching A-line skirt. She was most likely a real estate agent, and Tony instantly noticed that she was very attractive. He stared at her for a few seconds, noting her low neckline on her shirt and long, blonde waves.

"Now," Tony grinned, turning to Adien. "Watch and learn Probie."

Tony opened the door of the car, his face beaming with self-confidence. He strode confidently over to the dead marine, grabbing his badge and holding in his right hand. He flashed his badge at a group of police agents standing on the side keeping the crowd of concerned citizens at bay, and ducked under the yellow tape.

Gibbs was there to meet him with a frown. In typical Gibbs fashion, he shoved a camera into Tony's hand with force only he could get away with.

"DiNozzo-" Gibbs began in commandment, but was cut off.

"Yeah," Tony said, almost annoyed. "I know, Boss."

Tony then remembered Probee, remembering that he didn't know where he was. He turned around, and was delighted to see Adien misfortunately fumbling around in his pockets to find is badge. Tony knew where it was; of course, he had caused him to drop it in the car right when Adien had gotten in. A nice beginning to the case, in Tony's eyes at least.

Knowing that Probie was comfortably in an amount of trouble, Tony began to survey his surroundings closely for the first time. He was in the front yard of a large, yellow house, surrounded by a freshly cut lawn of grass. In typical suburb trend, everything was vividly colored and perfectly cut out in a clean fashion. It was almost all too perfect.

The Marine's body was splayed out in the front yard, his head resting rather close to a statue of a half-naked fairy. Purple flowers surrounded the Marine, and seeing the body made half a dozen ironic phrases and movie lines popped into Tony's head.

Grabbing a pencil out of his pocket, Tony sketched out the crime scene. Grabbing the camera slung around his neck, Tony snapped a few photos, checking the corpse's pockets for a wallet or photo ID. Not finding one, he sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course, it had to be difficult. Fate just couldn't have it any other way. Since there was no photo ID, Tony snapped a few extra photos of the Marine's face, just so Abby could get a quicker identity on the body.

Tony walked around, taking pictures of the surrounding houses and the rest of the crime scene. He used the camera's zoom, focusing in on the real estate woman in the low cut shirt, taking a few pictures that he would download and the delete before McGee got the film.

"Tony!" McGee's voice filled Tony's ear as he took another picture of the real estate agent. "I know what your doing."

Tony rolled his eyes; this was typical McGeek going after his fun

"It's not a crime to take pictures, McGeek."

"If Gibbs only knew that you were-" McGee's voice was cut off as he felt a hand hitting the back of his heads, accompanied by the twin smack of another hand hitting Tony's head at the same time.

"If I knew what, McGee?" Gibbs voice said from behind Tony and McGee's back.

"Umm," McGee stuttered. "If you knew that Tony was…" McGee racked his mind, searching for an excuse. "That Tony was not working."

"And now you're not either," Tony pointed out. Seeing the annoyed look on Gibbs face, Tony decided that he should probably not have said that. "And so now we'll go do what we need to do, Boss," Tony added. "Got it."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ziva reached into her pocket, pulling out a pair of tweezers. She stuck it in the lock, and fiddled around for about twenty seconds before it opened up with a faint click. Picking the lock took a bit to long than Ziva could afford, but it had to be done.

Pulling open the door, Ziva started to run. She turned around, her gun in hand; ready to shoot at the men if they were too close.

She didn't even have time to shoot.

**Thanks for reading! I know a lot of people just read and don't review (I do it too sometimes) but it's helpful if you do! Thanks so much for reading, you guys are the best! Responses are the best way to get a new chapter fast! Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Sorry it took me so long to update… I've been busy! Review for a faster update! Hope you enjoy!**

Gibb's team spent about an hour at the crime scene before Ducky showed up, not that Tony minded at all. Late as always, Ducky arrived a bit flustered at his assistant's navigational skills.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Mallard," Palmer apologized as he walked with Ducky towards Gibbs and the crime scene. "I thought that we were supposed to follow the blue line on the map! I didn't realize-"

"That those blue lines are rivers, Mr. Palmer!" Ducky finished for him.

"I thought it was the highway!" Jimmy defended himself.

Gibbs smiled, in spite of himself. This, so far, was one of the worst of Palmer's driving days. Who didn't know what rivers were on a map?

"The body's this way," Gibbs informed Ducky, nodding to the yellow taped area. He led Ducky and Palmer over, holding up the yellow tape so they could duck under.

Ducky kneeled down next to the body of the dead Marine, feeling the corpse's skin to note the temperature. Opening his bag, Ducky pulled out a liver probe and a pair of plastic gloves. Slipping the gloves onto his hands, Duck took the liver probe and inserted it into the body.

"You know," Ducky began. "This young man reminds me of a boy I met when I visited-"

"Time of death, Ducky?" Gibbs cut in, not eager to hear a long story about Ducky's childhood.

"It appears to be quite resent," Ducky replied, pausing to gather a better time frame. He stood up, pulling off his gloves. "Somewhere between seven or eight hours. I may be able to tell further after we get him back to the lab." Ducky turned to his assistant, his tone still hinting his disproval on Jimmy's map reading skills. "Get him into a body bag, Mr. Palmer."

"Right away, Dr. Mallard," Jimmy confirmed. He ducked under the crime scene tape, and walked over to the NCIS van parked next to the suburb's sidewalk curb.

The while the body was loaded into the van, Adien the Probie appeared to finally find his ID. Tony watched the Probie walk from the car, over the officers guarding the site. Taking his badge, he handed it to one f the officers. Tony smiled, knowing that now it wouldn't do him much good considering that the body was already being moved. He walked over to Adien, who now looked annoyed and a bit provoked.

"Better late than never, Kid," Tony ginned. Adien knew Tony was joking at his expense, and his scowl deepened.

"Nice to know you got my back," Adien muttered under his breath.

McGee, who was there to witness the entire episode, felt a tinge of empathy for the new agent. Of course, he knew that Tony had somehow caused the Probie's failure to find his badge. Not that he could prove it, but it was undoubtedly Tony's fault. He had been through all of Tony's tormenting, and his experience told that it wouldn't stop for a long, long time. Of course, the good thing about Tony acquiring a different target would be that, well, Tony now would have better things to do than torment him. Maybe getting a new agent wasn't such a bad thing after all.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Once the team arrived back at the bullpen, they all assumed their regular jobs after a marine was killed. McGee cataloged photos, Tony e-mailed Abby pictures for an ID, and Gibbs was in charge of dealing with the director and receiving updates. It seemed like everyone had forgotten about the team's newest member. Adien stood in front of Gibb's desk, looking completely lost. His black pants and blood red t-shirt looked out of place in the office setting, and his nose ring glinted in the light.

"Ummm," he mumbled. Gibbs looked up at him from his computer. The expression on Gibb's face reminded Adien of an annoyed shark. "Agent Gibbs, Sir?"

"What?" Gibbs replied, growling.

"What should I do?" Adien asked, clueless.

Gibbs stared blankly at the new agent.

"What do you think you should do?"

Adien was puzzled by his Boss's response. He had never had a boss like this, so seemingly uninvolved in his work. Thinking carefully, Adien tried to formulate an expectable answer.

"Let you work?" Adien asked in a questioning tone.

Gibbs stared at him longer, his blue eyes expressionless.

"So, I should probably… Go…?" Adien answered his own question. He walked sluggishly away, sitting down slowly in Ziva's empty desk.

Tony cast his glance up, just in time to see Adien sit down in Ziva's old desk.

"That's Ziva's desk!" Gibbs and Tony said at the same time, startling Adien, and causing him to stand up.

"Oh," Adien said reluctantly. "But," he ventured to say, "Didn't she quit?"

This was the wrong thing to say to Gibb's team. Little did he know, but this statement caused more dislike to his profile in Gibb, McGee, and Tony's eyes. More so Tony and Gibbs than McGee. Tension pulsed through the room, causing a few of the other NCIS agents to look up from their desks and wonder what was going on. Gibbs got up from his desk, and Tony saw him heading to Abby's lab.

Adien sheepishly stood up, releasing enough pressure for Tony and McGee to get back to work. No one said a word until a pair of footsteps announced that Vance was approaching.

"What's going on?" Vance's words were a bit slurred because of the toothpick sticking out of his mouth. McGee had started working again just before Gibbs departure, and looked up from his computer

"Uhhh," McGee answered. "We were just waiting for Abby to ID the body, Sir."

Their Director looked a bit skeptical, but accepted this explanation for the group not doing much of anything at all.

"You should probably go check with Abby then," the Director commanded, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

"Right away, Sir." McGee said hurriedly, standing up from his desk. "We're going now."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Gibbs entered Abby's lab just as her computer rang, a Caf-Pow in his hand. He walked over behind Abby as she leaned over her keyboard.

"What do you got, Abbs?" he asked her, setting her favorite drink down on the table next to her computer.

"You did it again Gibbs!" she exclaimed. "Are you sure you can't read my mind?" Gibbs rolled his eyes; he had been subject of this conversation before. "So did you meet the Probie?" Abby asked eagerly. "What is he like?"

She watched Gibbs face and learned enough from the blank expression that it held.

"Not impressed by Vance's choice?"

"He's worse then Tony when I got him." Gibbs responded.

"I liked Tony when he came here!" Abby defended Tony. "Besides! Look at him now!"

Gibbs showed a hint of a smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Do you have anything for me, Abby?" Gibbs changed the subject.

"I got the ID just as you came in," she grinned, pleased with her self. "I put it through the NCIS Navel Database, and I came out with Petty Officer Jonathan Cardell." She clicked on the file, then pulled up her e-mail and sent the file to McGee and Tony. "I'm sending the file to Tony and McGee right away."

"Good work," Gibbs told her. Just as Gibbs started to leave, Tony and McGee arrived at the lab.

"Hey Boss," Tony greeted Gibbs. "Vance told us to come up and see if…" Tony trailed off as he saw the screen on Abby's computer. "But it looks like Abby already told you about the ID."

"So, we'll go back down and check our e-mail," McGee told him; knowing Abby would have immediately sent them the file.

"Not so fast!" Abby exclaimed before McGee turned around to walk back to his desk. "I can just tell you now!"

She grabbed her Caf-Pow, taking a drink and typing with one hand. She pulled up the Petty Officer's file, scrolling through.

"Petty Officer Jonathan Cardell," Abby informed the group. "He was in the active service," she read aloud. "But was subject to some interrogation in 2007 on some suspicion that he was smuggling drugs."

"Did he come clean?" Gibbs asked.

"He was found innocent to the charges in 2008, but this was to be his last year in the Marines."

"Not anymore," Tony commented.

Gibbs opened his mouth, but Tony said the words for him.

"I know Boss," Tony said. "Check on family, friends, see if he had a wife." Tony walked out of the lab, going back to his desk and computer. McGee watched him go, and then turned back to his Boss.

"I should go get phone records," McGee excused himself. "So… I'll… I'll go now."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, the nodded at Abby.

"Thanks, Abbs," he told her as she smiled. Abby watched him and McGee leave, and then sat down at her computer. Typing in a series of codes, she watched with pleasure as her computer whirred to life.

"And now to finish the tox-screen," she said more to her computer than to herself. She looked at her computer strictly, and then yelled at it like a commander. "Get to work!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ziva woke with a searing pain in her head, in frankly, in the rest of her entire body. He arms and legs were tied, but they hadn't gone as far as to tape her mouth. She blinked her eyes a few times to get focus, and tried to get familiar with her surroundings. She was on the floor of an enclosed space, and there was no light. Having her eyes opened was either telling her she was blind, or that it was a waste of the remnant strength she had left. She chose the latter, and closed her eyes.

She then focused on her ears. She listened hard, first hearing nothing. Then she picked up a noise, and she recognized it instantly. It was the sound of a car. So, she was in the trunk of a car, and that gave her about 8 hours to live. Thinking further, she realized didn't know how long she had been unconscious. So she had less than 8 hours.

It made no sense, though, for them to through her in the trunk and take her with them if they were just going to kill her. If they were professional killers working for Ahmed, then why take her? There were four reasons that Ahmed would bring her along- nasty revenge, knowledge, love, or ransom. She doubted it was knowledge or love, which gave her two options. Neither she liked very much.

She felt and heard the car stop and then one of the doors open. She made out two muffled voices; one was Ahmed's and the other belonging to a man. She tried to make out words.

"Girl," she recognized Ahmed's man say. After more mumbling, she managed to make out the words "kill," "foolish," and "careful."

"Ziva," Ahmed's voice was clearer, as if her was very close to the trunk. "We know you're awake."  
Ziva almost gasped. She realized that she had forgotten to sweep the car for any cameras, a sign that she was getting sloppy. This had to be stopped, for next time it could be something more dangerous. Like a hidden bomb or gun.

She heard a key being inserted into the trunk lid, indicating that the car was an older model. Any information she could gather about her captors and surrounding could prove to be useful. She saw the door open, and her eyes hurt from the unaccustomed light that streamed into the small space.

She blinked her eyes, letting them adjust faster. The first thing she saw was the barrel of a very unfriendly looking gun.

"Hello, Ziva."

**Thanks for reading!!! For a faster update, please review!!! If any of you mind if I put a little bit of Abby/McGee in a (very) future chapter, please say so and I'll cut it out. Anyway… Review please! Thanks so much! You guys are the best!**


	4. Chapter 4

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Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs picked up his cell phone.

"Hello?" he said into the machine promptly in a no-nonsense fashion.

"Hello, Jethro!" Ducky's voice traveled through the small speaker into Gibbs ears. "I'm done with the autopsy," he informed his friend fondly.

"I'll be right down," Gibbs replied, closing his phone.

He got up from his desk, and pocketed his cell. Tony looked up briefly, and then looked back up at his computer.

"Ducky done?" Tony asked Gibbs, his face worn and tired. He had been making phone calls all day, and had no idea how telemarketers did it.

Gibbs gave him no reply, but instead walked over to the elevator, waiting until the doors opened with a ding. He stepped in, and pressed the button for Ducky's floor.

"I guess so," Tony said indigently as the elevator doors closed. "Thanks for sharing, boss."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Gibbs stepped into autopsy and walked over to the Petty Officer's body. Ducky's walls were covered in X-rays, and the former Marine's body was sitting on one of Ducky's silver tables. The body was still open; it's red insides visible to the naked eye. Most people would have been disgusted, but not Gibbs.

"Ahhh," Ducky said when he saw Jethro looking at the body. "So young to die, wasn't he? When I was in France, I met a young lad-"

"The autopsy, Ducky?" Gibbs cut him off.

"Oh yes, Jethro," Ducky began to brief him in. "He was killed by a bullet to the side of the head." He pointed it out for Jethro to see. "Death would have been immediate. He was killed about seven hours ago." Ducky walked over to his X-ray, leading Gibbs there. "He had a few broken bones, his femur and two of his fingers, but all were received during his childhood." Ducky walked over to his board of X-rays, pointing out the breaks on the appropriate screens. "But he had no wounds other than the bullet."

"Suggesting that he was caught off-guard or-"

"He knew he knew his attackers," Ducky finished for him.

"Anything else for me?" Gibbs asked Ducky.

"Well," Ducky said. "Not much. I can't find any probable cause of death other than the bullet, but we'll have to wait until Abby completes the tox-screen. The bullet didn't go straight through the poor man's skull, so I'm sending up to Abby as we speak. Now if you don't need anything else, I have some paperwork to finish."

Gibbs nodded to Ducky in thanks, and walked back to the elevator. Before he could press the button to call the elevator to his floor, the bell rang and it's doors slid open.

"Hi, Boss," Tony greeted Gibbs from inside the elevator, right after stepping out and almost running into Gibbs. "I got something and I thought you would want to know, so I decided to come down."

"You could have just called my phone," Gibbs said irritably as he stepped into the elevator, followed by Tony. Tony now just realized that he could have just called Gibb's cell, but decided not to comment. The doors shut with a ding, and the metal box began rising up to their floor.

"Turns out that our Petty Officer just got out of a pretty messy divorce. I think we should get the ex-wife in for questioning."

"Ya think?" Gibbs asked sarcastically. Tony ignored Gibb's sarcasm.

"McGee's now working on the suburb he was found in, trying to see if there was any connection."

The elevator stopped moving, and the doors slid open smoothly with the ringing of a bell to accompany its arrival. Not to be given a moment's peace, McGee walked up to the group in the elevator the moment the doors were completely open.

"I was reviewing the Petty Officer's phone records," McGee told Gibbs as he and Tony stepped out of the elevator and into the bullpen. They walked over to a large TV on the wall, where McGee was displaying the Marine's phone records. "I found that in the last three weeks, he made eighteen calls to this number." McGee pointed to the screen. He walked over to computer, clicking a button and changing the screen of the television.

"The number belonged to a real estate agent," McGee continued. The real estate agent's profile was showed on the TV, and Tony instantly recognized the woman's photo as the woman he had admired at the crime scene. "Her name is Karen Lipton. She's the representative for the house that our dead marine was found in front of. She doesn't have a record, in fact, she looks like an outstanding citizen."

"We better go talk to her," Gibbs said after McGee finished his update. "Tony," Gibbs said while grabbing his gun. "You're with me."

Tony grabbed his gun and hurried after Gibbs into the elevator for the sixth time that day. He was glad that today they got to interview this particular real estate agent; in fact, he was looking forward to it. He and Gibbs hurried down their car, Gibbs automatically opening the driver's door to the shiny light brown vehicle.

No matter how many times Tony was treated to Gibbs driving; it always seemed to affect him in the same way. The rush of adrenaline as Gibbs swerved around other cars, the ache of his upset stomach as Gibbs wore out the breaks. There was also the working part of his head constantly telling him that jumping out of the car in the middle of the highway was a better idea than staying in the car with Gibbs. Of course, he had never gotten that desperate. At least, not yet.

This time, driving with Gibbs was not any different than usual. When Tony was driving with Gibbs, he sometimes entertained himself by counting how many times they got honked at. He didn't get to play this game often, because most of the time they were talking about a current case. Today was different, though, because Gibbs wasn't really in a talkative mood. By the time Tony had gotten up to fifty-three, Gibbs finally pulled up to the curb next to the crime scene and parked in front of a large, blue house.

From Tony's quick inspection of the house, he found that it had a two-car garage built into the front of the house, and the siding and painting looked fresh and new. The front windows boasted private home security stickers, and the house's front was covered by a small overhang and porch. Everything about the house said that the people who owned it had money- so it made sense for a real estate agent to have it.

Tony opened the door of the car, and followed Gibbs up the driveway to the front door. Gibbs reached out to the doorbell next to a white front door, ringing it once before stepping back a pace from the door.

A nice looking blonde woman opened the door, and Tony knew they had the right person. She was dressed in a low neckline blue dress, her hair pulled up in a low ponytail. Her eyes were outlined in heavy black eyeliner, and her lips stained with a deep pink lipstick.

"Hi," Tony said, giving the woman a charming grin. "I'm special agent Tony DiNozzo with NCIS, and we would like to ask you a few questions about the marine found a few houses down."

"Oh," the Karen nodded, her voice a high soprano. "Come right in."

She led them into the front room, and nodded to them to sit down in a couple of fancy blue chairs. The room was painted a pale pink, the walls covered in an assortment a black and white photos.

"What do you need?" She asked, sitting down on a couch across from the special agents' seats.

"You're a real estate agent?" Gibbs asked Karen, glaring a Tony. Tony could not stop looking at her, his eyes fixed on her as if with glue.

"Yes," she relied. "That's correct."

"Are you selling any of the houses on this block?"

"Yes," she answered Gibbs again. "My agency owned most of the lots before the houses were built."

Karen lowered her hands into her lap, a few metal bangles clinking softly on her wrists. Tony opened his mouth to speak, still looking straight at her.

"Did you ever talk to Jonathan about buying a house?" Tony asked her, trying to question and be charming at the same time.

"We talked on and off," Karen said, thinking back. "He seemed very interested in buying a house," she paused a moment. "Actually, it seemed like the house wasn't the only thing he was interested in."

She gave the agents a moment to think on her words, and then continued.

"Just the day before he was found dead," she said almost emotionally. "He asked me out on a date. It was tomorrow, about this time."

"Had you ever gone out before?" Gibbs asked this time.

"Not on a date," she recalled. "We had dinner together once, but it was strictly work related."

"Which house was he interested in?" Gibbs asked Karen.

"The one he was found in front of."

There was some silence that followed, and eventually Tony cleared his throat.

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Lipton," Tony grabbed a card and pen from his pocket, scribbling something on one side. "Make sure to contact us if you need _anything_," Tony stressed on the word "anything", and then handed her the card. "If you can't reach me at work, my cell's on the back."

She nodded, giving Tony a blinding smile.

"Thank you so much officers," she said, ushering them towards the door. "I'll certainly call if I need anything, Special Agent DiNozzo."

Gibbs opened the door, and walked out onto her porch.

"Don't leave town," Gibbs told her as Tony walked out behind him. "We may need to ask you a few more questions."

"Okay," she replied, and closed the door on them and their conversation.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"What do you want now?" Ziva asked. Her situation was getting more dangerous by the minute, and she needed to learn of what Ahmed wanted from her now.

"I have decided," Ahmed replied, pausing dramatically. "That you could be useful, Agent David."

Ziva realized immediately that Ahmed used her name as she was called at NCIS. This was a big key to what he was planning. His one sentence clued a lot, but he didn't know he had given away that much information. Or, maybe he meant to so she would over think and than over react. She needed to continue this line of questioning as if she didn't know anything. Ziva began to speak.

"Useful, how?"

**I know what your thinking. WHY THE CLIFFHANGER EVERY CHAPTER? I know, it's not very fun for you, is it? But, you know, it's fun for me! As always, now is the time I ask you to review if you want a faster update. Thanks for reading! You're all the best! (Especially the people who review!)**


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